Violin chin rest

ABSTRACT

A violin chin rest, including means for mounting the chin rest on the base of a violin, has a swivelly mounted chin support portion mounted in a base member mounted on the violin mounting means. Means are provided for adjusting the position of the chin support member relative to the base member, and clamping means are provided for clamping the chin support member in a selected position relative to the base member.

United States Patent Chavez, Jr. {451 Aug. 8, 1972 [54] VIOLIN CHIN REST72 Inventor: Abraham Chavez, Jr., 4497 Grinnel W Examiner-Stephen TomskyAve., Boulder, Colo. 80303 [22] Filed: July 16, 1970 [21] Appl. No.:55,449

[52] US. Cl ..84/278 [51] Int. Cl. ..Gl0d l/02 [58] Field of Search84/278, 279

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 925,068 6/ 1909 Ziegler..84/279 1,435,280 11/1922 Colbertson ..84/279 1,204,642 11/1916 Becker..84/279 Assistant Examiner-Lawrence R. Franklin Attorney-Richard D. Law

[5 7] ABSTRACT chin support member in a selected position relative tothe base member.

6 Claims, 4 Drawing Figures P'ATENTEDM 8 m 3,683, 098

FIG. 2 FIG. 4

INVENTOR ABRAHAM CHAVEZ JR.

ATTORNEY VIOLIN CHIN REST The present invention relates to chin restsand more particularly to a violin chin rest.

Generally, while playing a violin, a violinist positions the base of theinstrument between his shoulder and chin and clamps it there by pressinghis chin against the base of the violin. Thereby, the violin is held ina generally stable position for playing. This manner of holding a violinis, of course, not completely satisfactory for all physiques, and may betiring on the neck of the violinist, due to various degrees of bendingthe neck in order to clamp the violin between the chin and shoulder.Further, the longer the neck of the violinist, the more neck must bebent in order to hold the violin.

It is, accordingly, an object of the present invention to provide animproved violin chin rest characterized by having a chin support portionwhich is selectively positionable for accomodating violinists.

It is further an object of the present invention to provide an improvedviolin chin rest which in situ has a chin support portion positionedabovethe base of the violin and is characterized by having means forselectively adjusting the height of the chin support portion over theviolin base.

It is additionally an object of the present invention to provide animproved violin chin rest characterized by having a chin support portionwhich may be swivelly positioned relative to the base of a violin uponwhich it is mounted.

In accomplishing these and other objects, there has been provided, inaccordance with the present invention, a violin chin rest includingmeans for attaching the chin rest to the base of a violin. A base plateis included in the attaching means and is positioned on the uppersurface of the violin base whenever the chin rest is mounted thereon.Adjustably mounted in the base plate is the chin support portion of thechin rest. The chin support portion includes a support member, forsupporting a violinists chin, which is mounted by means of a mountingplate on ball joint means so as to be swivelly adjustable. The mountingplate is mounted on the lower side of the chin support member and has aplurality of spaced holes, any of which may be selectively engaged bythe ball joint means. Thereby, the position on which the chin supportmember is mounted on the ball joint means may be selected relative tothe base of the violin. Means are additionally provided in the balljoint means for adjusting the height of the support member over theviolin base. Thus, there is provided an improved violin chin rest whichhas a selectively adjustable chin support portion as desired byviolinists.

A better understanding of the present invention may be had from thefollowing detailed description when read in conjunction with theaccompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a pictorial view of a violin chin rest according to thepresent invention;

FIG. 2 is an end elevational view of the violin chin rest of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a side elevational view of the violin chin rest of FIG. 1; and

FIG. 4 is a bottom view of the plate upon which the chin support portionof the violin chin rest of FIG. 1 is mounted.

Referring to the drawings in more detail, there is shown in FIGS. 1-3, aviolin chin rest, generally indicated by the numeral 1. The chin rest 1includes a lower flat clamping member 2 connected with a base member 3.The base member 3 has an upper flat clamping member 4 mounted on itslower surface. The base member 3 and clamping member 2 are joined by apair of upright members 5 which are preferably mounted perpendicular tothe upper surface of the clamping member 2. Each upright member 5 has anadjustable portion 6 for varying its length, and the upper portion ofthe members 5 are each bent at preferably right angles so that the basemember 3 may be positioned over the upper surface of the base of aviolin. Thereby, the clamping members 2 and 4 are positionedsubstantially parallel with respect to each other.

Swivelly mounted in the base member 3 is a ball joint means having aball portion 7 and an upwardly extending member 8. The member 8 isthreaded and of a predetermined length, and has a portion of its lengthscrewed into the ball 7. The extent to which the member 8 is screwedinto the ball 7 is adjustable so that height at which a chin supportmember 16 mounted thereon is positioned over the base member may beselectively determined. Lock nut means 10 is shown threaded on themember 8, to lock member 8 at a predetermined penetration into the ball7. The ball 7 is positioned by a clamping means 9 threaded through ahollowed-out portion of the base member 3. The ball 7 may be clamped ina selected position by tightening the knurled knob of the clamping means9. The angle the upward projecting member 8 makes with the upper surfaceof the base member 3 may be thereby selectively adjusted.

The upper end of the member 8 is threaded into a plate member 15 mountedon the lower surface of the chin support member 16. The plate member 15,which is shown in detail in FIG. 4, is preferably circular and has aplurality of spaced holes 17 tapped therein. The holes 17 areappropriately sized and threaded for receiving the upper end of themember 8. Thus, by selecting the particular hole 17 into which themember 8 is threaded, the position the chin support 16 is mountedrelative to the ball 6 is selected.

The chin support member 16, as shown in FIGS. 1-3, has its upper surfacecurved to accomodate the chin of a violinist. This chin support 17 maybe made of wood, plastic, or another suitable material which willcomfortably support a violinists chin while at the same time permittingthe violinist to stably hold the violin between his chin and shoulder.

In operation, the violin chin rest 1 is clamped or mounted on the baseof a violin by positioning the clamping member 2 against the lower sideof the violin base and adjusting the length of the upright members 5 bymeans of the adjustable portions 6. These adjustable portions 6 may bethreaded on the members 5, for example, so that the length of themembers 5 may be adjusted by turning the portions 6, thereby to clampthe clamping members 4 and 2 on the upper and lower sides of the violinbase, respectively. It is noted that the contact portions of theclamping members 2 and 4 are preferably made of a material such as cork,which does not damage or scratch the base of the violin.

With the clamping members 2 and 4 securely clamping the violin chin rest1 on the base of the violin, the position of the chin support member 16is adjusted relative to the base member 3. Adjustment of the position ofthe chin support member 16 relative to the base member 3 automaticallychanges the distance of the support member 16 above the base of theviolin. The position of the chin support 16 relative to the violin basemay be adjusted in any of several manners in order to accomodate thechin of a violinist. First, the clamp means may be adjusted in order tolengthen or shorten the distance the member 8 extends from the ball 7,thereby to adjust the height of the support 16 over the base of theviolin. Secondly, the particular hole 17 in the plate 15, into which themember 8 is threaded, may be selected so as to determine the mounting ofthe chin support member 16 relative to the ball 6. Additionally, theposition of the chin support member 16 relative to the base member 3 andthe base of the violin may be fixed by swivelly moving the ball 6 in thebase member 3. In this manner, the angle of the support member 16 may beselected by tilting the extension 8 with respect to the base member 3and the sense which the chin support 16 is positioned may be determinedby rotating the ball 6 relative to the base member 3. Once the chinsupport 16 is appropriately positioned for the chin of a particularviolinist, the knurled knob of the clamping means 9 is tightened inorder to fix the position of the chin support 16 relative to the base ofthe violin.

Thus, there is provided an improved violin chin rest which isselectively attachable to a violin and has a selectively positionablechin support portion according to the desires of the violinist.

I claim:

1. A violin chin rest, comprising means for mounting said chin rest onthe base of a violin, said mounting means including a base member forpositioning on the upper surface of the base of a violin on which saidchin rest is mounted; a chin support member for supporting the chin of aviolinist; a single extending member depending from said chin supportfor securing the same to said base member; ball joint means for swivellymountselectively clamping said chin support member in a selectedposition relative to said base member so as to selectively fix theposition of said chin support member relative to the base of saidviolin.

2. The invention recited in claim 1 wherein said single extending memberis secured in said ball joint, said extending member being mounted inthe ball portion of said ball joint to extend upward therefrom, and aplate having a plurality of holes therein is mounted on the lowersurface of said chin support member, the holes in said plate beingconstructed to receive the upper end of said extending member so thatsaid chin support member is mounted on said ball joint by selectivelyengaging said extending member in any selected one of the holes of saidplate.

3. The invention recited in claim 2, wherein said extending memberincludes means for selectively adjusting the extent to which it extendsupward from the ball orti of aidb l'oint. p 4. e i nvent i oli recitedin claim 3, wherein said mounting means includes a flat lower clampingmember for positioning against the lower side of said violin base, aflat upper clamping member for positioning against the upper side ofsaid violin base, and upright support members connecting said upper andlower clamping members, said upright members having means for adjustingtheir length so that said clamping members may be selectively clamped onsaid violin base.

5. The invention recited in claim 4, wherein said upright membersinclude a pair of support members mounted on said lower clamping memberperpendicular thereto, and said upper clamping member is mounted on saidsupport members so as to be positioned substantially parallel with saidlower clamping member.

6. The invention recited in claim 1, wherein said mounting meansincludes a flat lower clamping member for positioning against the lowerside of said violin base, a flat upper clamping member for positioningagainst the upper side of said violin base, and upright support membersconnecting said upper and lower clamping members, said upright membershaving means for adjusting their length so that said clamping membersmay be selectively clamped on said violin base.

1. A violin chin rest, comprising means for mounting said chin rest on the base of a violin, said mounting means including a base member for positioning on the upper surface of the base of a violin on which said chin rest is mounted; a chin support member for supporting the chin of a violinist; a single extending member depending from said chin support for securing the same to said base member; ball joint means for swivelly mounting said single extending member on said base member so that said chin support member may be swivelly positioned over the base of said violin; and clamping means operable to clamp the ball portion of said ball joint for selectively clamping said chin support member in a selected position relative to said base member so as to selectively fix the position of said chin support member relative to the base of said violin.
 2. The invention recited in claim 1 wherein said single extending member is secured in said ball joint, said extending member being mounted in the ball portion of said ball joint to extend upward therefrom, and a plate having a plurality of holes therein is mounted on the lower surface of said chin support member, the holes in said plate being constructed to receive the upper end of said extending member so that said chin support member is mounted on said ball joint by selectively engaging said extending member in any selected one of the holes of said plate.
 3. The invention recited in claim 2, wherein said extending member includes means for selectively adjusting the extent to which it extends upward from the ball portion of said ball joint.
 4. The invention recited in claim 3, wherein said mounting means includes a flat lower clamping member for positioning against the lower side of said violin base, a flat upper clamping member for positioning against the upper side of said violin base, and upright support members connecting said upper and lower clamping members, said upright members having means for adjusting their length so that said clamping members may be selectively clamped on said violin base.
 5. The invention recited in claim 4, wherein said upright members include a pair of support members mounted on said lower clamping member perpendicular thereto, and said upper clamping member is mounted on said support members so as to be positioned substantially parallel with said lower clamping member.
 6. The invention recited in claim 1, wherein said mounting means includes a flat lower clamping member for positioning against the lower side of said violin base, a flat upper clamping member for positioning against the upper side of said violin base, and upright support members connecting said upper and lower clamping members, said upright members having means for adjusting their length so that said clamping members may be selectively clamped on said violin base. 